The Top 10 Basketball Shoe Commercials Of All Time

10.“Boing”

 Nike Shox commercial with Vince Carter and the always trash talking Gary Payton. These shoes were solid basketball shoes but the “boing” took them to another level. Gary Payton is pretty funny in these and it was a very clever marketing campaign.

9.“The Iverson”
 
Who did not immediately go outside and practice this move? “The Iverson” it became known as and for the most part, never worked. We were just not quick enough to imitate The Answer. But it was the introduction of Reeboks new Air system, DMX, no affiliation with the rapper.

In these kicks you could actually feel the air flow back and forth under your foot, and were one of the hottest kicks out there. When this commercial came on, you definitely did not want to change the channel. You studied the move, and went outside and tried it on a trash can in the street or your little brother, I bet after reading this article your going to want to go see if you can still do it. 

8. Nike “Freestyle”

This commercial was everywhere, it had star power, some players seen in the commercial include,  Lamar Odom, Jason Williams, Darius Miles, Vince Carter, and Rasheed Wallace.

Mixed together with other lesser known players, all doing dribbling tricks, stylish passes all while dancing with a basketball. The crazy part of the commercial is that the soundtrack is actually just sounds from a basketball gym, with hard dribbles and shoe scuffles on a court creating the beat.

Awesome display of ball handling and shot together in a very creative way. Several of Nike’s shoes were featured in the commercial because of the wide array of players involved. 

7.“Pump it Up”
Wow, blast from the past. This Reebok shoe commercial is filled with current coaches and GMs from around the League explaining “the pump.” If you have trouble recognizing them, its Byron Scott, current head coach of the New Orleans Hornets, Pat Riley, Danny Ainge, Doc Rivers, and of course the legendary Dominique Wilkins. When the Pumps came out everyone wanted to “Pump it up,” and they learned how from this '80’s commercial.

6. “Banned”

This commercial was the one that made Nike the powerhouse of TV Commercials for shoes. This commercial started it all, MJ’s shoe line, and his marketability. There is no way you can watch this and not want a pair of Air Jordans.

This commercial was simple and to the point and everyone knows you always want what you can’t have. The NBA helped launch the Air Jordans to the heights of popularity by banning them from the league.

5.“The LeBrons”

Hysterical.  All the LeBrons commercials are funny so I just randomly picked one of them, but if you have a chance I highly recommend watching all of them. Funny to watch LeBron play all of the characters. Turns out LeBron can also act a little bit and can be a pretty funny guy, what can’t this kid do?

4. “Fall down 7 times, get up 8”
D Wade, is a physical player that has always attacked the rim. This commercial for his first shoe was actually quite powerful because of the message. Too bad that the shoes were horrible, but the commercial sent a strong message about D Wade and made him seem that much more badass.

3. “Jordan XXI”
There is no way you can watch this commercial and not get chills. The clips of everyone doing Jordan’s signature plays are just amazing to watch. Probably the most creative shoe commercial ever. It is so clever and so well done that you can immediately recognize each Jordan moment whether if its being done by an 8th grader, or a girl, you can recognize the moment it is emulating. Not to mention the Jordan XXI’s are an amazing basketball shoe.  


2.“Lil' Penny”

Probably the most famous puppet in the Basketball shoe world. The Classic Lil' Penny Commercial. With Chris Rock providing the voice for lil Penny. The Air Penny featured in this commercial was not the most popular of the Air Pennies, but this commercial was classic with the slow motion sequence and Lil' Penny doing what Lil' Penny did best, talking trash.


1. “Its got to be the Shoes, Money!”

One of the most successful campaigns by Nike at the time. Mars Blackmon played by Spike Lee harasses Michael Jordan about why he is the player he is. Nike found out "funny" sells. The play between Spike Lee and Jordan is great and takes you back to a time when new shoe commercials were like a new movie coming out. Spike Lee directed this commercial as well and Jordan did his thing, dunking and selling the best footwear out there.